


Media Ban

by anerdandanofficer



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Headcanon, lena being extra, slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-16
Updated: 2017-03-27
Packaged: 2018-10-06 01:30:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10322423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anerdandanofficer/pseuds/anerdandanofficer
Summary: Lena Luthor's reaction to finding out Kara has been fired, and her (very extra) efforts to fix things.In which Lena refuses to talk to any press other than Kara Danvers, may have recently, and in a totally unrelated deal, purchased a small media conglomerate which includes a local paper, and is having her assistant hunt down Cat Grant wherever the woman may be to fix the situation. Because, that's what friends do, right?Filled with lots of Lena being a super supportive friend who believes in Kara Danvers, and slowburn Supercorp with extra flirting.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Loosely based off this tumblr post:  
> http://e-is-for-effervescent.tumblr.com/post/158269110518/where-is-my-lena-buys-a-small-nc-newspaper-and
> 
> And inspired by this post:  
> http://fuck-you-i-am-spiderman.tumblr.com/post/158090576923/excuse-me-if-you-dont-think-lena-luthor-would
> 
> I couldn't un-see it, and this basically haunted my thoughts until I wrote it. 
> 
> First chapter was my initial brain fart about this, and then once I started I couldn't stop.

The young reporter comes stumbling into James’ office looking confused and slightly bewildered, and comes to a stop just behind James’ desk, scratching the back of his head. He waits, as James finishes the end of the paragraph he is reading, his red pen making swift movements across the paper, striking ferociously, before he pauses and looks up. The young man befores him crumples his notepad nervously in his hands, dark hair ruffled, as he fidgets before the acting CEO.

“Rough first interview?” James asks, amused and somewhat sympathetic. The first reporter to be sent to Lena Luthor's office, for a comment on a new side project of L Corps being unveiled next week, since the firing of Kara Danvers. It was bound to be rough. As much as he was still uncertain of the young Luthor, from his interactions with her he’d seen a surprising loyalty and protectiveness towards Kara that had taken him slightly by surprise. 

“No,” the report huffs, and then with a prolonged sigh coughs up; “No interview, at all. I was barred from returning to the L Corp building.” James blinks. Well, that was unexpected.

“God, what did you do to offend her? You didn’t bring up Kara did you?” he asks, placing down his pen - he won't be coming back to that edit any time soon. The young man scowls and crosses his arms over his chest. 

“Nothing,” he exclaims, slightly frustrated but trying to hold it back, very much aware that he is standing in front of his boss, “I- I went straight up to the receptionist, said I was there to see Miss Luthor for a quick comment for Catco magazine, and- and I was told ‘Miss Luthor would not be seeing me, now, nor ever.’” He throws his hands in the air, perplexed. 

When James finally manages to calm him down, and send him back into the bullpen with the reassurance that it is nothing personal, he sits down in the chair that feels just that little too big, and sighs. When he had first heard the news himself from Snapper, he had been furious. But very quickly he had realised that for now, there was very little he could do. Cat Grant is currently uncontactable, Snapper Carr is digging in his heels, and James risks not only losing their head reporter but looking like he is showing an incredible amount of favoritism to his close friend slash ex-almost-girlfriend, in going over Carr’s head and re-hiring her. Kara said that she did understand this, but his stomach still squirmed at the sound of disappointment in her voice over the line when he had explained the position he was in. And she would never ask, or push, for him to pull his weight. 

He drums his fingers on the table top for a moment, before picking up the phone and dialling. It rings twice, and then a cordial woman picks up. 

“L Corp, Lena Luthor’s office, how may I help you today?”

“This is James Olsen, from CatCo, I was wondering if-”

“I’m sorry, James was it?” the woman interrupts him, and with a purposeful ditz to her voice momentarily pretends to not know exactly who he is, which he knows that she does because this is Lena Luthor’s assistant and she knows who everyone is, “Lena Luthor will not be making comment to, speaking with, or be interviewed by any reporter from Catco magazine, other than Kara Danvers.” James lets out a strained sigh.

“Kara Danvers doesn’t work here any more,” he informs her, and thinks that he can hear the smirk she forms at his response before she even speaks. 

“Exactly. You might want to fix that.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure how, but this took a slightly more serious tone than the initial comedic first chapter. This monologue from Lena popped into my head, and the rest of the chapter formed around that. 
> 
> Some more to go after this, but let me know what you think!

It soon becomes abundantly clear that it isn’t just CatCo. Every single journalistic publication, right down to a local school newspaper, is barred any access, information or conversation with the CEO or anyone from L Corp, unless the reporter on the article is Kara Danvers. 

Which is frustrating enough, because Lena Luthor is the dark, sexy, smart CEO, rising from the ashes of her family in this new and different world, where aliens walk openly among us, with her marred history and her strong new view, taking the city by storm. She is a walking, talking headline. She sells newspapers and magazines like hot cakes. And yes there are other stories, and there will always be something to write about, but in National City she is the hot topic, and this only seems to increase with the sudden drop in any reportage on her. It all becomes speculation, adding to her mystery, and any paper would die for a quote, for a scoop, for a comment from the woman herself, but no reporter is going to get within ten feet of her, apart from a blue eyed blonde in pastel cardigans and lead lined glasses. 

\------

It’s late at night when Kara hears a knock at the door, that pulls her attention away from the television. She had been so consumed in her Friends reruns she hadn’t even paid attention to the footsteps down the hall, or the nervous heartbeat hovering outside. She had just come in from another day of being Supergirl, of waking up and putting on her suit (which felt so odd) and going straight into the DEO. She was already feeling frustrated, twiddling her thumbs and waiting for danger to arrive, so that she could strike it down. She x-rays the door, and sees Lena Luthor outside, still in her work clothes, fidgeting somewhat nervously as she waits. 

“Coming,” Kara calls, feeling a smile push up the sides of her mouth as she climbs off of the couch. When she pulls it open the CEO looks composed, gives her a warm smile, and glides inside with a wave of Kara’s hand to enter. She is all grace and mystery, and yet the pattering of her heart says otherwise. 

“Late night at the office?” Kara asks with a smirk as she guides them into the kitchen, more of a teasing probe than a question, and turns on the kettle. Because this is a thing, sometimes, since Kara lost her job. Lena turning up at her apartment on her way home from work. When Mon-El isn’t there, and Kara isn’t out Supergirl-ing. And it only further highlights the CEO’s working hours, as it is always late.

“How are you?” Lena asks. Genuinely asks, not with pity in her voice, although maybe just a touch of guilt. Kara offers her a truthful shrug, but refuses to frown as she begins to make herself a tea and Lena a strong coffee. 

“Fine, you know, just taking some time to re-adjust and decide what to do next I guess.” She had told Mon-El that maybe being Supergirl and being with him would be enough, but she should have known that could never be true. Because she is Kara Zor-El and Supergirl and Kara Danvers, and some fusion of them all combined, and to try to take one part of herself out of the equation was never going to make her happy. She just has to figure out how Kara Danvers fits now, what she does, if she doesn’t work for CatCo. Does she still want to be a reporter? Her gut screams yes but her slightly bruised ego groans no. How had her life changed so much, so quickly? Happy as she is for her sister, the inevitable distance of both their new relationships pulls at her, not much improved by this hovering, unresolved dislike of Mon-El that Alex now carries silently. She is polite, cordial, but it certainly doesn’t make for particularly comfortable family dinners nor games nights, there is always an elephant in the room. There is her new relationship with Mon-El, which is exciting and different. But this new intrusion on her space and her time feels weird to get used to, a boy in her apartment, an alien boy who needs to be guided, has it’s difficulties. But being with Lena still feels safe, feels untouched, like a comfortable haven she can seek out. With Lena she is Kara Danvers, ex-reporter, friend, ordinary human citizen. Her sigh shifts into a small smile at this thought. 

When she looks up, realizing she has been stirring the drink for too long, Lena is looking at her fondly with soft green eyes. Their shade shifts from chartreuse to a rich emerald under Kara’s gaze, and long lashes blink slowly back at her until the blonde cracks a smile.

“Sorry,” she mumbles.

“For what?” is Lena’s quick reply, “There is no need to apologise to me Kara. I can’t imagine how hard this must have been for you. Have you uhm, heard anything, from James? Hasn’t he worked his acting CEO magic yet and gotten you back your job?” She asks, gently taking her over stirred coffee from Kara’s hands and letting her fingers brush over the blonde’s as she does so. She doesn’t see why it is so difficult to spin some reason for rehiring an employee as brilliant and hardworking as Kara. Not to mention she was sure she’d given him amo enough to use for solid backing. Sales were just noticeably down, not just at Catco though, in all news companies in National City according to her sources. Where is Cat Grant when you need her? Jess’ contacts in the assistant network had informed them nothing had been heard from the woman in weeks, the rumours whirring quietly in lunch break rooms across the city, where was she now? Lena had already made probes, asked her contacts across Europe and Asia to track down the media queen. Now it is just a matter of time. She eyes Kara as the blonde gives her a pointed look, and she has to bite at her lip to stop herself from grinning. It barely contains it, she just looks so adorable, pyjama shirt slightly askew and static pulling at her locks. 

“You know I can’t, wouldn’t, ask him to do that,” Kara says, blue eyes gently asking Lena to go easy on him. The CEO takes a small sip, and rolls her shoulders in a flippant shrug.

“Oh, I am well aware,” she teases, “But you shouldn’t have to. It isn’t even bad business Kara, it just makes sense.” Kara feels her chest inflate, and a pleasant warmth stir her stomach, at the knowledge that Lena not only would do that for her in a heartbeat, but that the woman believes in her abilities enough to think that it is stupid not to. She wishes everyone else could see this side of the woman. She almost feels guilty that she isn’t there anymore, to have Lena’s back in the media, to fight for her story to be heard. James is hardly a big Luthor fan, and Snapper is so hard set in his ways and approach, who is there now to argue the other point of view?

“Just because you’re a softie for these big blue eyes,” Kara sings with a smirk, as she fishes out her teabag with her fingers and drops it onto the saucer, faking a small wince a moment too late as she remembers how hot it should be, “doesn’t mean everyone else falls for their charm.” She hears Lena’s heartbeat flutter and then settle, though on the outside she looks unperturbed by the comment and raises one eyebrow dramatically. Kara notices things like this sometimes, but then brushes them off. 

“Charm? Please, you wish,” Lena laughs, and ignores Kara’s pout, though it wears on her somewhat in the dim kitchen lighting, “oh, don’t try that on me. You know that I’m impervious to pretty girls giving me puppy dog eyes.” Those soft golden curls fall lazily over Kara’s bare shoulders in her pyjama top, and swing down, tickling over her collarbone as she leans forward. 

“You think I’m pretty?” Kara grins cheekily, leaning her elbows on the countertop. All that pent up energy pumping through her veins tonight, from a quiet day on the job. Or maybe it’s the excitement of seeing Lena. The CEO scowls at her, and changes the subject. 

“You know,” she says in that languid way that she sometimes does, drawing out the first two words and pausing for effect, “If you’re looking for another job as a reporter, L Corp recently purchased a small media conglomerate comprising of Star News, that smaller paper we have in National City. If you were interested, I could get you an interview for a junior reporting role, working under and being mentored by one of our top reporters. You’d learn on the job, on your feet, but be guided by a season professional. I mean I wouldn’t just hand you the job, I know you better than that, but I have no doubt that if you were interviewed, well they’d be stupid not to hire you.” Kara stands up straighter and blinks at her, her stomach swirling. She wonders, just for a moment, if maybe Lena bought the newspaper for her? Which is preposterous, even considering the way that the CEO takes on the guilt and actions of others so easily, or the obscene amount of money that she has. This is far beyond the elaborate apology hamper she had delivered to Kara’s door the day she found out, filled with bits and pieces she knew Kara loved, tv shows they’d discussed, cosy looking supergirl patterned flannel pyjamas, all her favourite snacks, and a bouquet of plumerias. 

“Lena,” she says softly, her head tilting slightly to one side, “I told you before, and I’ll say it again, it was my choice to post the blog. It wasn’t your fault at all. And I still stand by my belief that it was the right thing to do.” Kara nods her head firmly, resolute as she says so, and Lena offers a wry smile in return. The night sky outside Kara’s apartment window, the lights of the city and the soft glow of the stars, reflect in the jade of her eyes.

“I’m not just doing this because I feel guilty. I mean, I do feel guilty. I do feel responsible for you losing your job, and I can’t help that, because I care about you, and I gave you the idea. You made the choice, but I planted the seed. I can’t help but feel somewhat responsible for the outcome,” the heaviness of her voice, the exasperation, speaks of how much she no doubt has thought about this over and over, and it eats at Kara, gnaws at the pit of her stomach like an ache. She reaches out and places her hand over Lena’s, where it rest against the benchtop. She can feel the CEO’s pulse against her skin, matching the sound of her heart beat in the peripheral of Kara’s hearing. The tempo is increasing as she takes a breath, as if to steady herself, and continues. 

“But it is about more than that. Kara, you are going to be an amazing reporter. I’ve sensed it in you from the first day that we met. You are passionate, and you care, and you have integrity, and a thirst for the truth. Not to mention a way with words. This city needs, deserves, Kara Danvers, reporter, just as much as-” she hesitates, and then sighs and pushes through, “Just as much as it needs Supergirl.”

The look in her eyes says it all, she knows. Kara falters, and pulls her hand away, readjusting her glasses where they sit on her nose. They suddenly feel uncomfortable on her face, like they don’t sit quite right. She can feel heat filling her cheeks, no doubt staining them red. But Lena doesn’t push it any further than that. She gives Kara her softest smile, one that glimmers in her eyes like a summer sun on tropical waters, and pulls her hands back against her sides. 

“Anyway,” the CEO gives a long, slow yawn, and pushes her half empty coffee cup towards the blonde, “I should probably get home at some point. It’s getting late, and I should let you get back to-” she waves a hand vaguely towards Kara’s living room.

“Friends?” Kara gives her a smile as she indicates towards the paused tv screen. Lena laughs, as she pushes back from the counter, taking a step towards the door. 

“Goodnight, Kara,” her tongue curls around the words in a way that sets a fire in the pit of Kara’s stomach. She smiles back, watching Lena open the door, the way the CEO’s fingers curl delicately around the wood as she glances back over her shoulder, all radiance in the way that her dark hair sits delicately in a loose up-do. 

“Thank you,” Kara calls out quickly, nervously, before the other woman can step out, “I- That meant a lot. What you said.” Lena gives a small nod.

“Just think about it, okay? My offer still stands.” Kara gives her a beaming smile, to reassure her that she will, before she steps out and closes the door. The apartment is quiet, and Kara can still hear her, as she leans back against it for a moment and takes a breath, before walking away.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena asks Kara to write a statement about L Corps latest endeavor on her blog, because there is no other reporter she would ever trust with something like that. 
> 
> It may or may not also fall into her plan to get Kara her job back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Basically, my brain is determined to squeeze all of the random cute ideas I have about adorable things Lena would do in this scenario, into the one fic. 
> 
> Also, more than ever after the latest episode of Supergirl and The Flash, I have poured my thoughts about Kara and the true supportive relationship she deserves into this fic and into Lena. 
> 
> Lena is pretty much her number one fan, amiright?

Kara doesn’t really think too much of it when Lena sends her an email at 3:25am. She smiles when her phone lights up on her bedside table, Lena Luthor’s name flashing up, and fumbles to unlock her screen and open it. The screen swims before her drowsy eyes for a moment, before she rubs them and blinks and the words come into focus.

 

_ I hope I haven’t woken you. I was wondering if you could do me a favour.  _

 

_ As you are aware we are about to launch our new project, which has been under wraps for months. I won't go into detail via email, but you know the one I am talking about. My PR team are strongly pushing that we need to make a press statement, to make our intentions with this endeavour clear, and to be perfectly honest the only reporter that I trust with this is you. I know that James hasn’t pulled up his CEO slacks and re-hired you yet (please tell him I said to grow some balls), but perhaps you could post something about it on your blog? (I note that it is still hovering around in the nethersphere.)  _ __   
_   
_ __ If you’d be okay with that, you can come by my office to go over the details.

__ \- L _ _

 

 

She giggles as she imagines Lena’s expression writing this, the way the CEO’s eyes would start out soft, sincere but serious, and then become comic, smiling at the corners, somewhat smug with her dig at Jimmy, and end vulnerable, the look that she only ever seems to give to Kara. The blonde sits up further in the bed, pressing her pillows up against the wall so that she can lean into them. She types back a reply;

 

_ Do you even need to ask? Of course I’d love to Lena. When are you free tomorrow? _

 

_ Love, Kara _

 

She hits send quickly, and lets her phone rest on top of her knees to look out her open window, a soft night breeze drawing the sounds of the city into the room. She must have forgotten to close it when she had arrived home late from Supergirl-ing. Exhausted, she had changed into the first pair of pyjamas she could find (which just so happened to be the ones that Lena had given her, one house of El crest for another) and crawled into bed, ignoring the three texts from Mon-El asking if she was free to hangout. She wasn’t, obviously, as she was sleeping. But possibly it would have been polite to let him know that. She stares at the messages again now, a deep crease forming in her brow, and groans. How can something so right feel so… wrong? But maybe it’s just all in her head, her fears causing her to self sabotage. She groans, why must dating be so hard? Her thumbs are hovering over the keypad when another email comes through. 

 

_ How does lunch at my office sound? I’ll order in, as this is a little sensitive to discuss in a restaurant. Now get some sleep, I’ll need you to have your wits about you ;) _

__ \- L _ _

 

 

Kara feels a fuzzy warmth pool in the bottom of her stomach. One of the many things she missed about working at CatCo was visiting Lena so frequently, using the excuse of work to talk to her, or their lunch dates every second day to new cafes and restaurants around the city. It is…. She humms a sigh and scratches her head. It is one of those things that she can’t find the words in English to describe. The late night coffee visits were nice, but short, too short for her liking, and not nearly frequent enough. 

 

_ Sounds perfect.  _

 

_ <3 K _

_   
_ _ P.S. These PJs are so comfy, where did you get them? _

 

She glances up, cranes her neck forward, and with her vision she can just make out the top floor of the L Corp building, and the soft silhouette of Lena in the window, wine glass in one hand and her blackberry in the other. She thinks about that city skyline reflected in green eyes. And the curl of a smile on the edge of dark red lips. A yawn escapes her mouth, squeezing her eyes shut, and she wriggles back down into the warmth of her bed. Tomorrow isn’t all that far away if she lets herself fall back to sleep. 

 

\-----

 

Kara caps her pen, and looks up again, giving Lena a grin. From her position on the lounge the sunlight streams through the window behind her, and catches around the outline of her dark hair in a soft glow. She is giving Kara one of those signature smiles in return, relaxed in the blonde’s presence as she tugs a cushion into her lap and plays with the fraying corner. Kara bites her lip.

 

“I think that I have everything I need,” she admits. She had everything she needed fourty five minutes ago, but she’d kept talking for longer, drawing out the conversation to remain in Lena’s presence. 

 

“Excellent,” the CEO replies, “Well, I look forwarding to reading it, as always. Although do try not to flatter me too much Kara, you know some people might start to think you have a bit of bias towards me.” She smooths the palms of hands over the cushion cover as she says this, and though her words are cocky and lightly flirtatious in a harmless, playful sort of way, her eyes make Kara’s cheeks flush crimson as they stare up at her from behind dark lashes. She readjusts her glasses under their intense gaze, and reaches her foot out to nudge Lena’s calf playfully with her toe.    
  


“Hey!” she protests, “I’m not biased. Well, I am a little, because you’re my friend, but it’s irrelevant, because every single thing I have written about you is the truth. Besides, I am a  _ professional, _ Miss Luthor.” Lena let’s out a loud laugh, tossing her head back as she does so. It’s the kind of laugh that Kara loves to pull out of her, one that fills the room, and makes Kara’s chest feel warm. 

 

“Mmm, I have no doubt about that Kara,” she humms, smirking, as she puts the cushion back in it’s spot and leans across to collect a pile of magazines from the corner of her desk. Kara thinks that the arc of her back as she does so reminds the reporter of a cat. Lena pulls the collection into her lap with strained arms. They are less new looking than the neat array of journals on the coffee table, science periodicals and business magazines, their covers neat and pages untouched. This pile is dog-eared, and more worn, creases worked into the covers from holding them open. Kara is surprised when she recognizes that it appears to be made up entirely of copies of CatCo Magazine. She watches, perplexed, as Lena thumbs through them and pulls out an edition from last month. Her fingers find a corner that has been folded down to bookmark a page, and she opens it;

 

“Lena Luthor: Dangerously Dashing,” she reads out dramatically, wiggling her eyebrows from over the top of the pages, and Kara can already feel the heat in her cheeks, “Miss Luthor was seen out on the town this week, looking drop dead gorgeous rocking a sexy, low-cut black dress, and red pumps to match her daring lipstick, as she was led to the back door of the downtown club. From CEO sheak to nightclub sleek, is there no look she can’t pull off?” Now Kara is sure that she is the colour of a beetroot. Her face feels like it is on fire.

 

“Snapper was making me try my hand at the ‘On The Town’ page, he thought I needed to try reporting in other styles,” she squeaks out in protest as she buries her face in her hands. Why does her voice have to come out so raspy and breathless. Lena is laughing again.

 

“Everything you have ever written about me is the truth, huh?” she teases, dropping the magazine back into her lap and reaching out to touch Kara’s knee. The blonde spreads her fingers to squint through the cracks, and sees green eyes staring back, sparking, burning like stars. Her lips are daring Kara to reply, asking for her answer, but those jade eyes hide a look that says she believes she has found Kara’s lie. 

 

“I still stand by that statement,” her words are muffled against her palms, “You’re beautiful.” She says it with pure conviction, she feels Lena needs to hear it. The teasing fades for a moment, and Lena bites her bottom lip. She pulls back, and shuffles the collection into a neater pile, before placing them back in the same spot on her desk again. Kara drops her hands back to her notepad, skimming her fingers over the indents of the words she has written, and cocks her head as the CEO glances back at her. 

 

“Soooo you keep all of my articles, huh?” Now Lena is the one fighting back a flush brighter than her vermillion heels that night. 

 

“I told you Kara,” she quips back quickly, “I’m quite invested in your career. I guess you could say I’m your biggest fan.” Her words are dry humour, but the way her fingers curl into material of her skirt says that she means the words deeply. Kara gives her, her brightest grin. 

 

“You really are, you know. That means a lot.”

 

She doesn’t think the words really convey just how much she means it, how much she truly appreciates it, how deeply important it really is to her. To have someone who believes in Kara Danvers, the way that other people believe in Supergirl. To have someone deem her as a person to have  _ so much _ worth outside of her powers, to praise her abilities other than lifting a car with one finger or beating someone up. That acknowledgement of something she has done that has taken time, and effort, to work on, to improve, that hasn’t just been given to her as a gift, but something she has worked to achieve. Coming from someone who isn’t her proud sister or her adoring mother. And for the first time in a long time she curses the restraints of the English language for tying her tongue, when she needs more than ever to express that. 

 


	4. Gone Viral

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She wakes up to the hazy memory playing back in the fringes of her dream, of Lena Luthor blushing somewhat bashfully by the work of Kara’s tongue, teasing her for the collection of magazines. This is the thought she carries as she moves into the shower, trying not to remember the image of red lips curled in a soft half smile as the hot water beats down onto her skin. Why is it stuck in the forefront of her mind. She makes breakfast, and thinks of green eyes, the secrets they hide, and the admissions they give only to Kara.
> 
> So maybe on some unconscious level Kara is vaguely aware that Lena might possibly have had somewhat of a crush on Supergirl.

\-----

 

The blog post gets over 20,000 hits within the first hour, and then Lena retweets it, and soon it is blowing up, and Kara is blinking at her computer screen like maybe she is seeing something wrong. Her inbox is soon filled with emails from local papers and magazines, most of which are titled along the lines of REPORTER POSITION AVAILABLE, and some of them keep saying something about having finally found her, as though they had been looking? And she isn’t quite sure what to make of it all, but then she gets a text from James asking to meet up with her first thing tomorrow, and she closes the laptop, agrees, and goes to bed. Maybe when she wakes up it will all have been a dream. 

 

Mon-El is there. He is just, there. That sums up pretty well how she feels about it. She doesn’t even try to explain the blog thing to him, he wouldn’t understand. But she doesn’t have the heart to ask him to leave either, and she is so confused, about the blog and maybe about other things too, and she climbs into bed next to him and goes to sleep.

 

\-----

 

She wakes up to the hazy memory playing back in the fringes of her dream, of Lena Luthor blushing somewhat bashfully by the work of Kara’s tongue, teasing her for the collection of magazines. This is the thought she carries as she moves into the shower, trying not to remember the image of red lips curled in a soft half smile as the hot water beats down onto her skin. Why is it stuck in the forefront of her mind. She makes breakfast, and thinks of green eyes, the secrets they hide, and the admissions they give only to Kara. 

 

So maybe on some unconscious level Kara is vaguely aware that Lena might possibly have had somewhat of a crush on Supergirl. It was that goofy smile that she got whenever Kara appeared in her costume, the way she blushed when Supergirl had collected her up in her arms, and the flirting. Lena was a hopeless flirt, but most especially with Supergirl. It’s just she had never thought that could apply to Kara Danvers. She had thought that the hungry green of Lena’s eyes under the moonlight, as Kara had gently set her down after saving her life, was spurred from the adrenaline rush. That her girlish laugh that Supergirl’s smile seemed to produce in the CEO was a textbook schoolgirl crush on a superhero, and surely nothing deeper than that. More admiration, than infatuation. However now that she knows that Lena knows they are one and the same, well, how does that work? This realization is just setting in, and Kara doesn’t know how to process it. 

 

Mon-El presses a kiss against her forehead as she finishes off her third Danish, and she smiles up at him sheepishly. Oh, and there’s that. 

 

“Aw man, I can’t believe you’re not coming in to the DEO today. I love going to work with you,” he bemoans, leaning against the back of the chair next to her, “What time are you meeting Jimmy?” James hates when Mon-El calls him that. She glances down at her watch, and coughs on a mouthful of buttery pastry as she sees the time. 

 

“Oh shoot, I’m late already!”

 

\----

 

As it turns out, the meeting is to offer,  _ no _ , to beg her to take her job back at CatCo. As it turns out, James is mildly deaf in one ear now from Cat Grant yelling down the phone line at him last night. Kara still giggles when she imagines it, although she does feel bad for him. That is very much overcome by her pure joy at having her job back. She is about to literally skip out of his office when he shakes his head, gives her a wry smile and says;

 

“I do not know how Lena Luthor worked this magic, I hate to say it, but it’s impressive.” Kara frowns, pausing on the spot.

 

“What do you mean? What did she do?” James raises an eyebrow incredulously, but bites his tongue and just offers. 

 

“She’s a smart business woman, I guess… she made sure it was the only right move to make.”

 

\----

 

Kara hugs two dozen boxes of Cripsy Cremes to her chest nervously, trying to remember not to squish them in her nerves, and rapps her knuckles on the wooden door, before pushing it open. When she steps in Lena is watching the doorway curiously, and then emits a small, breathy laugh when she sees who it is. 

 

“You know you don’t have to knock, right? That is somewhat the premise of having unfettered access to my office, you can just come in whenever you like.” Her voice is lilted with amusement as she moves some papers around her desk, and scribbles a thought for later on a sticky note, adding this to the line of sticky notes across the bottom of her computer screen. Which is cute, Kara thinks, and then scratches her head. There she goes again, thinking Lena is beautiful and cute and sexy and amazing, and all these lines keep blurring in her head, and this morning she had literally googled the definition of friendship. Why was earth so hard and confusing when it came to relationships? Or maybe it was just her, and this blur of cultures inside her head, that made it so difficult to navigate her own feelings. She shakes her head, braid moving to fall  across her shoulder as she does so, and steps towards Lena’s desk with the boxes outstretched. 

 

“I brought donuts,” she proclaims and then feels like a bit of an idiot, but when Lena grins at her,  _ god that grin _ , she doesn’t actually regret it at all. 

 

“Hmm, you really do know the way to a woman’s heart. Now, how many of those are for me this time?” she teases, moving around her desk and indicating towards the lounge to one side. 

 

“A whole box,” Kara blurts out, thrusting one into an unsuspecting Lena’s hands, who raises her perfectly sculpted eyebrows in question “I got my job back at CatCo!” It comes out as a bit of a squeal as she sits down, closer to the CEO than she usually would, and Lena’s guarded look of amused confusion breaks into a grin again, wider this time. 

 

“Oh Kara, that’s wonderful news. I am so happy for you. So, donuts to celebrate?” She is already lifting the lid of the box, dainty fingers extracting an original glazed. Her dress, today a deep green like moss, sits in soft folds that mold around her figure as she relaxes into the couch. Kara bites her lip, as she watches the way that Lena bites into the pastry, and tries to remember her words. 

 

“They’re to say thank you. For… believing in me so much, when I wasn’t even sure that I believed in myself. It’s funny to think now, I mean, it’s not that it had never crossed my mind, but you were the one who gave me that push, who helped me see that being a reporter is what I wanted to do. Me,  _ Kara Danvers _ , as opposed to… you know. And you’ve been there right from that first day, always pushing me, always supporting me. Lena, I don’t know what I would have done without you,” she finishes and takes a breath. This is probably the longest she’s gone holding a box of donuts without eating one, she thinks, as Lena swallows and places her donut.

 

“It’s the least I can do,”she replies effortlessly, “Kara, I may have believed in your passion and your skill but, you believed in  _ me _ . Me as a person, a good person, when noone else could see past my name. That means more that you could know.” Her hand reaches out to touch the back of Kara’s, and her fingertips are sticky with glazing, and warm. It sends a shiver up the blonde’s arm. 

 

“I think I know exactly how much it means,” she replies softly. They share a smile, a knowing smile, because in different ways that could both be so limited by a label, by a name, so boxed in by something that defined only one part of who they were. And they were so similar and yet so different, and Lena was the one person who could ever really understand that part of her.

 

It’s funny because in a way she gravitated to Mon-El for that reason, thinking he could understand, that they shared in something, having both lost their family, their planets, coming to earth and having to learn its ways. But the more time that she spent with him, the more she realised that they couldn’t be more different. And that his story was far from her story. And he wouldn’t talk to her about it, wouldn’t open up, and all the details were blurry, and she felt so frustrated. They didn’t share that bond, that connection, that she had with Lena. That unspoken spark, the red thread that kept leading her back, that gravity that pulled her in. The way that the CEO was looking at her now, those eyes, sparkling chartreuse, filled with adoration, a warm sense of pride, a lingering dark flicker of something  _ else  _ that made Kara’s stomach squirm in a pleasant sort of way. 

 

“I hear that you, uhm, may have had something to do with it. With me getting my job back?” Kara probes. Lena’s mouth remains stoic for a moment, but then gives way to an embarrassed smile, and she fights back at the blush spreading up her cheekbones. 

 

“No, well, I mean, maybe a little,” her eyes deflect away towards the other side of the room, as though something has caught her attention, a dust mite caught in the stream of midday sunlight that strikes across the empty space. Kara lets out a small, infectious giggle, and flips her hand around so that Lena’s fingers are resting against her palm instead, and they slide, sticky, down to the pulse point of her wrist, so that the CEO’s palm is touching hers. That dusty crimson in Lena’s cheeks darken. 

 

“I hear that Miss Grant gave James an earful,” Kara tells her, voice somewhat raspy. 

 

“Is that so?” Lena’s grin is somewhat cocky at this information, “Well, you know, maybe some things just needed to… align themselves… to point some oblivious people to the  _ obvious _ answer. Although I was almost starting to hope CatCo wouldn’t want you back.” The way she says this sounds like a private joke to herself, one she seems to suddenly realise she has says out loud and really needs somewhat of an explanation, the way those blue eyes are looking at her quite confused.

 

“You know, if you came to work at Star News, I could assign you a permanent running report on L Corp,” she answers the unsaid question, eyes glinting mischievously, before she waves her free hand flippantly and tacks on, “Not that I would do that.  _ Probably. _ I know it is somewhat poor journalistic form, and hardly making the best use of your potential. Not to mention manipulation of the media to paint myself in a positive light. Although, very tempting.” She clears her throat, but her hand hasn’t moved, index and middle finger lightly pressing against Kara’s wrist, her palm clammy against the reporter's own. 

 

Kara runs her tongue across her bottom lip, and yet it still feels dry. She swallows. 

 

And then Lena’s phone rings. The CEO groans as she pulls to her feet, hand slipping out of Kara’s touch, and leaving the cold rush of air against the blonde’s skin, the trail of icing on her palm. 

 

“I have to take this,” she sighs apologetically, setting down her donut box on as she reaches towards the handset, and the last syllable is interrupted by Kara’s own phone, vibrating in her pocket. They share a look, a smile, brief but understanding, and Kara takes her box of donuts, still uneaten, and waits until she closes the door behind her to answer. 

 

“Supergirl, how fast can you get down here?” Alex’s voice isn’t overly panicked, just impatient. Kara nods to Jess as she exits, and the receptionist grins back at her as she slips past into the lift.

 

“To the DEO?” she whispers once the doors have closed.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“I’ll be right there.”

 

\------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this may or may not bleed back somewhat into Canon but rejigged by me to what the last two episodes should have been. 
> 
> Also, I basically have no idea what I am doing, not plot ideas at all, I just kind of sit down and see what my fingers do. Let me know if you feel this is steering drastically off course!
> 
> Oh, and we all know Lena would totally assign Kara a running weekly article on L Corp, just to have an excuse to spend time with her. You know, in addition to the other great journalistic opportunities she'd get to write. 
> 
> (Is this story basically just two strong women complimenting each other and building each other up? Dw, more super pining and lusting to come.)
> 
> p.p.p.s. Kara ate the whole box of donuts before she got to the DEO.


End file.
